banks Archives - Politicoid

Fractional Reserve Banking Part II

There was still a lot of confusion regarding my previous article on fractional reserve banking. Nothing has changed with the argument, but I do want to expand on it a bit. I think part of the confusion comes down to a closely related topic. While fractional reserve banking does not create money, the creation and actual use of bank IOUs does. But that money is not the same money that went into the banks, or which comes out of the banks when you make a withdrawal.« Continue »

Fractional Reserve Banking: The Myth of Creation of Money

By politicoid Leave a Comment Mar 17 3

There is a long perpetuated myth that fractional reserve banking creates money. This is false. FRB increases the velocity of money. Before getting into the specifics of why fractional reserve banking does not create money, and how it works to increase the velocity of money, it might be reasonable to discuss what fractional reserve banking is.

In fractional reserve banking, a bank lends out part of the money it takes in. When taking into account how much is lent out, along with how much is supposedly in each person’s account, it appears that new money has been made. This can happen multiple times, as people continue to deposit money into different bank accounts and different banks. The appearance of more money is called the money multiplier. But there are issues with the idea.« Continue »

The Catch in the Bank Fueled Bull Market

By politicoid Leave a Comment Jan 13 133

The growth of banking stocks in the last few quarters have had a significant impact on the bull market, but there is a catch. While everything seems to be doing great in the markets, a good portion of the recent growth has been due to banking stocks, and that is not necessarily a good thing.« Continue »